No to backpacks

Secondary school principals have taken a zero tolerance approach to images on a popular brand of school bag, and the president of their umbrella body is calling on the authorities to ban it from local streets altogether.

“We have enough issues to deal with in this society that we could do without anybody promoting that kind of image,” president of the Barbados Association of Principals of Public Secondary Schools (BAPPSS), Vere Parris said.

Parris told the WEEKEND NATION he had not seen any of the offensive bags himself, but the principals expressed concern about some of the images on some of the Sprayground backpacks which cost between $150 and $300. Some of the images include scantily- clad women in various poses, bullets, guns, knives and marijuana.

The decision to ban the bags, which have become increasingly popular over the past two years, but which the administrators have now deemed “unacceptable in a school setting” was taken at BAPPSS’ regular meeting on Tuesday. However, reports indicate that some principals had been prohibiting the bags in their schools for some time now.